Libraries use authority control to manage the names, uniform titles, series, and subject headings in their catalogs. Participants in this class will learn what authority control is and why it is needed, how to read a MARC authority record, and how to use the Library of Congress authority file. The class will also include discussion of how to keep headings in your local systems up-to-date, and the relevance of authority control.

Prerequisite: “Understanding MARC21 Bibliographic Records” class.

This class will be held online from June 22nd to July 26th. To receive full credit, participants must complete all assignments by July 26th.

Class participants will access the course web site in order to read materials, discuss issues in a forum, and complete assignments. The class is held asynchronously, which means that participants are not required to be online at any particular time during the five weeks; however, there is a class schedule with due dates that participants are expected to meet. The instructor will interact with the participants during the course to offer feedback and provide explanations of material.

A few days before the class starts, class participants will
be sent information about accessing the class.

To register: Go to Authority Control in the Nebraska Library Commission Training Portal. Registration closes June 14th.

In these interesting times we find ourselves living in I figured a nice fluffy read was in order, and in this case it’s literal!

Buried to the Brim by Jenn McKinlay is part of the “Hat Shop Mystery” series that follow Scarlett Parker on her adventures. Originally from the states Scarlett and her cousin Viv run the hat shop, Mim’s Whims, that was left to the both of them by their grandmother. This book begins with Scarlett’s fiance coming to the shop needing a favor for his Aunt Betty and her dog Freddy. (I told you it was a fluffy read.)

Aunt Betty and Freddy have been competing in the local charity dog show for the last few years and have always managed to only come in second. Wanting something that will give them an edge in this years competition they’ve come to ask if Mim’s Whims will make a hat for Freddy to wear while competing.

My only disappointment with this book is that aren’t any illustrations! Viv, after some convincing, ends up making multiple hats not only for Freddy but matching ones for Aunt Betty as well. To see those creations atop Freddy’s fluffy little head fills my corgi loving heart with glee.

I’m usually not much of a mystery reader but seeing as Jenn McKinlay also has written a few romance novels this definitely didn’t have much of a “who-done-it” feel to it. I also enjoyed the fact that even though this was the sixth book in the series it stands well on it’s own and I never felt like I was missing anything by not having read the other books. Now that I’ve finished Buried to the Brim I definitely want to read the other books in the series, although they can’t be nearly as good without a corgi in them.

But it’s okay though, I have a corgi of my very own. Anyone know where I can pick up a top hat for Charlie?

Why would you use a 651 MARC tag instead of a 610 tag? What is the difference between a 260 tag and a 264 tag? Where do you put the note about closed captioning?

If you have questions about MARC catalog records or would like to learn more about entering records into your local system, join us for this seven-session asynchronous online workshop.

Topics will include:

Fixed & variable fields, subfields, tags

Title and statement of responsibility

Edition

Publication

Physical description

Notes

Subject headings

Series

Main and added entries

Special topics

This class will be held online from March 30th to May 15th.

Class participants will access the course website in order to read materials, discuss questions/issues in discussion boards, and post assignments. The instructor will interact with participants through discussion boards and optional web chats in order to offer feedback and provide explanations of material.

Video materials make up a significant portion of today’s
libraries’ collections. Attend this workshop to learn about copy and original
cataloging of video recordings in a variety of formats, including DVDs, Blu-ray
discs, and streaming video. Topics will include series/episodes, cast notes,
editions, and access points.

This class will be held online from February 3 to March 9. To
receive full credit, participants must complete all assignments by March 13th.

Class participants will access the course web site in order
to read materials, discuss issues in a forum, and complete assignments. The
class is held asynchronously, which means that participants are not required to
be online at any particular time during the six weeks; however, there is a
class schedule with due dates that participants are expected to meet. The
instructor will interact with the participants during the course to offer
feedback and provide explanations of material.

A few days before the class starts, class participants will
be sent information about accessing the class.

This workshop is approved for the NLC Cataloging
Certification Program. Courses are open only to Nebraska residents or those who
are employed by a Nebraska library. This class is approved for the NLC Cataloging
Certification Program.

Being the good reader that I am every holiday season I make sure to include books on my gift list. (Yes, my family still does Christmas lists but that’s a story for another time.) Sometimes I’ll ask for the latest hot fiction title, or I might want a larger coffee table book that I’ve had my eye on but couldn’t justify the price. This year though I went with something small enough to fit in my stocking.

The Little Book of Big Feelings is authored and illustrated by Marzi Wilson, creator of “Introvert Doodles”. If you’ve ever wondered about the care and feeding of your fellow introvert, or are one yourself, I highly recommend checking her out. She has a lovely little Instagram page, perfect material to scroll through when that party gets to be a bit to much and you’re taking a moment to yourself behind a potted plant. She has three other books, as well, including an activity book!

This latest book takes a look at those big feelings we all get, joy, sadness, anger and so on, how they may look different to an introvert and, greatest of all, how to deal with them. Reading this book is a great way to get perspective on those emotions and even to start processing and accepting them. Each section deals with one particular emotion in small cartoons as well as meatier parts dealing with they psychology behind them. This is a fun and easy to grasp little book that, while slightly geared towards adults, would totally be useful for those fun balls of emotions that are teens.

Video materials make up a significant portion of today’s
libraries’ collections. Attend this workshop to learn about copy and original
cataloging of video recordings in a variety of formats, including DVDs, Blu-ray
discs, and streaming video. Topics will include series/episodes, cast notes,
editions, and access points.

This class will be held online from February 3 to March 9. To
receive full credit, participants must complete all assignments by March 13th.

Class participants will access the course web site in order
to read materials, discuss issues in a forum, and complete assignments. The
class is held asynchronously, which means that participants are not required to
be online at any particular time during the six weeks; however, there is a
class schedule with due dates that participants are expected to meet. The
instructor will interact with the participants during the course to offer
feedback and provide explanations of material.

A few days before the class starts, class participants will
be sent information about accessing the class.

This workshop is approved for the NLC Cataloging
Certification Program. Courses are open only to Nebraska residents or those who
are employed by a Nebraska library. This class is approved for the NLC Cataloging
Certification Program.

When I’m out of something to read, or just in a rut, memoirs are my go to genre. Something about peeking into the lives of others, and realizing even the biggest star has gone through many of the same things I do, gives me the feeling of being transported to another time and place like no other.

A.J. Jacobs is writer of a number of memoirs, a few of which I’ve also read, mostly centered on a big idea. In his book “The Know-It-All” he tackles every entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica. In “The Year of Living Biblically” he does… well… just that by trying to follow the rules of the bible, and not just the big ones, as literally as possible. A.J. writes not only about his personal experience in each book but also how it affects his family, as well as the research and study surrounding each subject.

For this edition of “Friday Reads” I read “It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree”. It starts off with a seemingly innocuous email from the husband of A.J.s eighth cousin. This man’s work on his own family tree has become his life’s passion with over 80,000 relatives on it, including A.J. This sparks something in A.J. who, after some quick poking around on his own, decides that he’s going to throw the world’s largest family reunion.

This book isn’t only just about genealogy but touches on a myriad of subjects like the meaning of family, DNA, privacy, history, race, celebrity, and death. Broken down into a weekly countdown to the reunion the chapters are in bite size chunks which makes for a quick and enjoyable read. There’s also a guide in the back of the book where A.J. goes over how to start researching your own family tree.

Personally I’ve never been into researching my families past, the making of a boring list of names, but this quote from the book tugged at my heart strings enough that I may have to give it a shot…

“What affects me emotionally isn’t seeing the ground where my ancestors’ bones lie. It’s hearing their tales, seeing their images, reading their words. It’s learning about the nickels they strewed on the ground for loved ones… that’s what gets me.”

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Shortly after I started back in April I was asked if I wanted to contribute to the commissions “Friday Reads” blog and of course I said “Yes!” And then I froze. I had been moving so I haven’t read anything in a while! Nothing I had with me seemed to work and nothing recently seemed intriguing. So after some (okay…a lot!) of browsing I finally came across “The Woman in the Window” by A.J. Finn. It mainly caught my eye as my cover says “Soon to be a major motion picture” and I’m the type of person who always has to read the book first. Rarely is a movie better than the book but with this one we’ll just have to wait and see.

Told from the perspective of one Dr. Anna Fox who, due to her battle with agoraphobia, has spent the last ten months in her house having what she can delivered so she never has to leave. She keeps tabs on her neighborhood through the lens of her camera and “see’s something she shouldn’t”. I’ve never seen “Rear Window”, or much of it at least, but it seems like there are a number of connections that can be made between this book and the movie. A person trapped in their home thinks they see something nefarious and people don’t believe them. The connection is made even stronger through Anna’s own love of old movies, including “Rear Window”, which are referenced throughout the book.

As for the rest of the characters A.J. does a good job fleshing each of them out but I hate to say it – he does nothing with them. Most of them have very little connection to the plot and you never really get to know any of them well. Unfortunately, you never really get to know Anna very well either as major parts of her story, and why she is the way she is, aren’t revealed until you’re ¾ of the way through the book. Thankfully the book redeems itself in other ways and really is a quick read. The “chapters”, some of which are only a page long, are grouped together by date and the flow that this gives the book never waivers. Plus, the way AJ writes really gives you an almost visceral feel for what’s going on (hence the reason I feel that if done right the movie might out shine the book.)

I wouldn’t recommend “Woman in the Window” to hard core mystery buffs, but other than that I found the book enjoyable. I normally don’t like mysteries as I find it frustrating that I usually figure it all out only sentences before the characters do. “The Woman in the Window” is more suspense story than a true “who-done-it” type of mystery, though, and it keeps you on your toes by throwing twists and turns at you constantly making you, and Anna, question if your reasoning is correct. With that being said in the end I was able to figure out the “who” well before it’s revealed in the book.